<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2 Final//EN"> <HTML> <HEAD> <META NAME="GENERATOR" CONTENT="SGML-Tools 1.0.9"> <TITLE>Kiosk HOWTO : Other Considerations</TITLE> <LINK HREF="Kiosk-HOWTO-6.html" REL=next> <LINK HREF="Kiosk-HOWTO-4.html" REL=previous> <LINK HREF="Kiosk-HOWTO.html#toc5" REL=contents> </HEAD> <BODY> <A HREF="Kiosk-HOWTO-6.html">Next</A> <A HREF="Kiosk-HOWTO-4.html">Previous</A> <A HREF="Kiosk-HOWTO.html#toc5">Contents</A> <HR> <H2><A NAME="s5">5. Other Considerations</A></H2> <P> <P> <H2><A NAME="ss5.1">5.1 Screensavers</A> </H2> <P>Depending on where you deploy your kiosk, you may not want all the default xscreensaver images to appear. For our <I>Hands-On Biodiversity Gallery</I> we wanted to display only the animated fractal images that suggested life science themes. <P>After testing out several screensaver images, we decided that we to select randomly between two choices: <I>coral</I> and <I>forest</I>. <P>To limit xscreensaver to displaying these two, we created the file .xscreensaver in the filesystem root (/) with the following options: <P> <H3>/.xscreensaver</H3> <P> <HR> <PRE> programs: \ coral -root \n\ forest -root \n </PRE> <HR> <P> <P> <H2><A NAME="ss5.2">5.2 Sound Files</A> </H2> <P>Our kiosk machine contains a Sound Blaster AWE64 card with attached speakers. We chose this card specifically because it works well with Linux sound drivers. <P>The MySQL database that drives our Biodiversity Gallery kiosk points to a collection of sound files that a visitor may listen to, including a ``bird song quiz.'' The downside of using Linux Netscape for a kiosk is that some of the multimedia aspects are primitive, compared to Windows and Macintosh. <P>To enable sound, we implemented a Unix Netscape plugin called Xswallow written by Caolan McNamara ( <A HREF="http://skynet.csn.ul.ie/~caolan/docs/XSwallow.html">http://skynet.csn.ul.ie/~caolan/docs/XSwallow.html</A>). All the sound plugins we tested create a separate web page as the sound is being played (unless the sound file is embedded). Of the programs we tested, Xswallow worked the best and had the cleanest display page. <P>Although the extra page is inconvenient, we decided that having the stability of Linux was more important than the extra click required to return to the previous screen. <P>An additional problem is that when a sound is selected, the Xswallow page displays ``Click to Abort Swallow of type audio/basic''. Clicking merely returns a blank page. I made a slight change to the author's source code for UnixShell.c, changing <P> <BLOCKQUOTE><CODE> <PRE> char *text2 = "Click to Abort Swallow"; </PRE> </CODE></BLOCKQUOTE> <P>to read <P> <BLOCKQUOTE><CODE> <PRE> char *text2 = "Click BACK Button to return from playing file"; </PRE> </CODE></BLOCKQUOTE> <P>The phrase ``of type audio/basic'' appears to come directly from Netscape rather than Xswallow. <P>After recompiling, I added the plugin to Netscape. <P>A last note about sound files: the original set of files we received were a mix of .au and .wav files. Our experience was that the .au files worked the most reliably in Linux and we converted all sound files to .au format. <P> <H2><A NAME="ss5.3">5.3 Trackballs</A> </H2> <P>Not having the funding for a touchscreen display, we opted for a trackball (and no keyboard) for our kiosk navigation. Our colleague, Andy Rauer at the Ontario Science Centre in Toronto, tipped us off to using ``industry-strength'' trackball components from Happ Conrols Inc., Elk Grove Village, Illinois <A HREF="http://www.happcontrols.com/">http://www.happcontrols.com/</A> (check under their Interactives section). <P>One of the things we needed to do was disable any right-mouse button click equivalents from being used in Netscape Navigator because right-click events invoke user dialogs. <P>By building our own trackball, we were able to wire it any way we wanted. We wired in two push-button controls, both with a left-mouse button equivalent. The buttons are arranged on either side of the trackball, allowing ease of use from right-handed and left-handed visitors. Our gallery designers then took the trackball parts and built them into the gallery's kiosk enclosure. <P>For our kiosk we purchased the following components for building a heavy-duty trackball designed to withstand visitor use (and abuse): <P> <UL> <LI>A 2 1/4-inch Atari Trackball Assembly (we selected red)</LI> <LI>Trackball Interface Kit for IBM (Microsoft serial mouse compatible)</LI> <LI>Illuminated Push Buttons (red)</LI> </UL> <P>From a local electronics vendor, we purchased a Hammond Manufacturing plastic handy case (Cat no. 1591ABK) for housing the electronics board for the trackball. <P>Anticipating additional kiosks, and potential part failure, we ordered four sets of each of the above for spare parts and testing. <P> <H2><A NAME="ss5.4">5.4 Designing or modifying HTML pages for kiosks</A> </H2> <P>In the best of all possible worlds, you will have the opporunity to design your kiosk pages from scratch. Bearing in mind that using a kiosk is a different experience from sitting at a desk browsing the web from a personal workstation, the following guidelines are useful design principles: <P> <UL> <LI>Keep text passages very short and use large fonts.</LI> <LI>Avoid screens that require scrolling.</LI> <LI>Use colorful, large, eye-catching images on every page</LI> <LI>Create embedded navigation if possible, e.g., return to previous page, go to next page, go to kiosk menu, etc., should all be designed right into the pages themselves.</LI> <LI>Avoid anything that requires a keyboard. Design for clicking.</LI> <LI>If you use sound files, keep the duration short. Embed them into the page if possible.</LI> <LI>Make everything punchy and snappy. Design for short attention spans and pass-through traffic. Save your theses and exegeses for elsewhere.</LI> </UL> <P>Unforunately you will sometimes inherit pages that were designed for web browsing rather than kiosk browsing. In these cases it may be too time-consuming or too difficult to redesign them as kiosk pages. When implementing standard web pages for a kiosk display: <P> <UL> <LI>Remove all external A HREF's, including MAILTO's.</LI> <LI>Remove all unnecessary verbiage, logos, etc. from the pages.</LI> <LI>Check font sizes and increase if necessary.</LI> <LI>Remove any animated GIF's that don't pertain directly to the pages being viewed.</LI> <LI>Actually, remove any animated GIF's, period.</LI> <LI>Do anything else you can to simplify the page design.</LI> <LI>Check into using server-side includes to add some fundamental navigation or a consistent graphic to tie the pages together.</LI> </UL> <P> <P> <HR> <A HREF="Kiosk-HOWTO-6.html">Next</A> <A HREF="Kiosk-HOWTO-4.html">Previous</A> <A HREF="Kiosk-HOWTO.html#toc5">Contents</A> </BODY> </HTML>